Jazz notes: Long heaves hurt Alec Burks' statistics

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How many times have you seen it?

The ball is inbounded at the end of a period and the player heaves a three-quarter court shot  but just a split second after the buzzer sounds.

Maybe there wasn't time.

Alec Burks suspects something else most times.

"I think a lot of people do it just to save their percent," he says

Just don't count the Jazz shooting guard among them. Burks has been the Jazz's go-to launcher late in quarters. He's fired 10 shots from at least 40 feet Â five more than anyone else on the team.

Burks has gone 0-for-10 on those shots, and it has hurt his numbers. Overall, he makes 34.6 percent of his 3-point shots. Take away those 10 heaves, however, and Burks' percentage would be 37.5.

In a stats-driven league, every hundredth counts.

But Burks isn't concerned about the numbers.

"I want to make one," he said. "I'm going to shoot it."

Missing open shots

The Jazz have the sixth-worst offense in the NBA this season, but coach Ty Corbin said he has been encouraged by the team's progress in some areas.

"I'm actually pleased when watching collectively the execution of the plays," he said. "We've gotten shots in spots where we want them."

One problem: "We've had open shots and we haven't made them with the consistency we're looking for."

The NBA's SportVU player tracking data shows the Jazz have 219 uncontested shots (without a defender within four feet) over the team's last six games. They've made only 33.7 percent of them.

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